Maben preschoolers learn about Thanksgiving

This book, “The First Thanksgiving” by Garnet Jackson is a Scholastic Reader which features short sentences, sight words, and words that can be sounded out. If you are interested in acquiring books from Scholastic go to www.scholastic.com[2].
The Maben Public Library was hopping with little boys and girls enjoying the day with parents and grandparents reading all about the pilgrims, Indians, and the first Thanksgiving.
The children were introduced to the Mayflower, which was the ship the Pilgrims used when they fled England in 1620. These people left England, because they were not allowed to practice their own religion. The little tots learned there were 102 settlers on the ship that finally landed in the new world on Dec. 21, 1620.
The pilgrims had landed in the Patuxet Wampanoag Nation, which was a Native American tribe. The Pilgrim leader, William Bradford, named the country New England. Today, this place is called Plymouth, Mass.
As winter started, the pilgrims started building shelters and a place to store food. They built one big house, which they called the Common House, where all of the people stayed. Unfortunately, only 50 pilgrims survived the winter.
One day when winter was over, the pilgrims was greeted, in English, by Samoset of the Abenaki people. Later, he brought his friend, Squanto, who taught the pilgrims how to use fish for plant fertilizer before they planted corn. They also planted beans, squash, and pumpkins. They learned to fish, to dig for clams, and to catch eels.
One day Chief Massasoit of the Pokanoket Wampanoag tribe and sixty of his men paid a visit to the Pilgrims, who asked why the Pilgrims had come to their land. They made a treaty with each other to join together against common enemies.
Squanto showed them how to hunt animals for meat, which was a blessing. All summer they farmed, built houses, and prepared themselves for the next winter.
They decided to have a feast in October of 1621, which they called a harvest feast.
For three days, they celebrated by eating, dancing, and playing games.
Later this became to be called Thanksgiving by President Abraham Lincoln.
In 1863, the fourth Thursday of November was proclaimed Thanksgiving Day.
After the reading, they made their own Thanksgiving book, threaded penne noodles, which had been dyed green, rust and blue, to make a necklace, and then they made feathered headbands.

Ten Fat Turkeys

“Ten Fat Turkeys” by Tony Johnston is another Scholastic book that teaches about numbers. There is lots of silly words for sounds, lots of repeated words, lots of alliteration, plus learning to count forward and backwards.
About 10:15 a.m. Friday, the Maben Library started ringing with the laughter of tiny tots as they giggled and danced with the CD that went with the morning book that Ms. Mary was reading.
As they gobbled and wibbled; they giggled and wobbled to the music. Pretty soon they were to the end of the book.
After the book, they all received a blank card and a pen to outline their out-spread hand. They included a waddle, an eye, and two feet.
Then the most fun was gluing the Fruit Loops onto the card to make colorful feathers — a true work of art fit to be hung on the refrigerator.
The next fun was when Ms. Mary poured cold milk in the bowls of Fruit Loops for them to eat.
Then Ms. Dottie, the librarian’s helper, had all of the children come by and tell what they were thankful for. This will be submitted separately to the Starkville Daily News.
Melissa Fletcher, one of our new patrons and story time mothers, had a surprise for all of the tiny tots; she brought a handmade Thanksgiving Card for each member of the group from her son Rylin.
She told us that it was made with a large heart for the body, a smaller heart for the head, which had a real small yellow heart for the nose and google eyes. Then she cut a bunch of multi-colored feathers to attach behind the body, which had two little sticks for legs. Happy Thanksgiving!!
The rest of the time was spent checking out books, running up and down the steps, laughing and eating Fruit Loops.
Happy Thanksgiving!